Language disorders Flashcards
What is a language delay?
An impairment in comprehension and/or use of a spoken, written and/or other symbol system.
The disorder may involve the:
1.the form of language (phonologic, morphologic, and syntactic systems).
2.the content of language (semantic system), and/or
3.the function of language in communication (pragmatic system), in any combination
What is a language disorder and what does it include?
Developmental Language Disorders (DLD)
Language impairment
Language disability
Language learning disability
Developmental dysphasia / congenital aphasia
Specific language impairment (SLI) → school aged
Language disorder: atypical development of language; delayed in achieving developmental milestones by a significant degree
What is the prevalence of language disorders?
Estimated that 7.4% of children has a language delay/disorder.
In Australia 13% were 1-2 SD below the mean on Peabody Picture Vocab Test.
What is the aetiology of childhood language disorders?
Majority of language disorders have no known cause (i.e., functional)
No single cause
However, some language disorders originating from a clear anatomical, physiological, or neurological cause (i.e., organic)
Congenital
Acquired
Organic causes - ASD, hearing impairment, Intellectual impairment, global delay, TBI, stroke.
What are signs of an expressive language disorder?
Frequently having trouble finding the right word
Using the wrong word in sentences
Limited vocabulary
Making grammatical mistakes and using poor sentence structure
Relying on short, simple sentences
Having difficulty retelling a story or relaying information
What are the signs of a receptive language disorder?
Symptoms of a receptive language disorder may include:
Not appearing to listen when spoken to
A lack of interest when stories are read
Inability to follow verbal instructions
Reliance on the use of gestures and other non-verbal clues to help understand
Parroting words or phrases
What are some possible aetiologies of language delay?
Functional
Environmental factors
Premature birth
Otitis media with effusion (OME) – conductive hearing loss
What are late bloomers?
A group of children who display early language delays between 12 and 24 months but no longer appear to have a delay by 4 years.
At 2 language comprehension is fine but there is limited expressive vocabulary.
Children who are late to talk in preschool generally have weaker skills school.
Some of these children are diagnosed with Specific Language Impairment.
What are the 12 potential predicators for delay/disorder?
- gender
- twin births
- pre-term birth
- birth weight
- birth order
- non-English speaking background
- socio-economic status
- family history of speech language difficulty
- maternal mental health
- maternal vocabulary
- maternal education
- maternal age at birth of child
What are some of impacts of language delay/disorder?
Poorer social communication Emotional problems Increased behaviours problems Precursor to literacy problems Parent/child interactions may be comprised
What are some signs that intervention is needed?
No intentional communication shown between 9 - 18 months.
Limited use of eye gaze
Low rate of communication using gestures or vocalisations.
Rate of communicative acts (CA)
18 months - 2 communicative/minute, request objects/actions, establish joint attention.
2 years
5-7 CAs/minute
words or words combinations.
If we don’t see a child using CAs frequently then this is of concern.
Want to see a mix of assertive acts and responsive acts.
Small vocab for age/ few verbs.
Few spontaneous imitations.
Play - limited symbolic or combination play.
Behaviour problems
Talks more with adults than peers.
What are signs of disorders of content?
Semantic problems: Small or restricted vocab Poor access to held vocab Poor use of held vocab Syntactically well formed but empty language Over-extensions Inconsistent naming Gesturing instead of naming Omission of verb in sentences Difficulties with concept development
These are important for following directions and future academic learning.
What are signs in disorders of form - syntax and morphology?
Difficulties in
•wrong, omitted, and/or over-generalized tense forms or plural forms
•omitted auxiliary verbs
•use wrong pronouns
•comprehension of sentences is variable
•incorrect word order
•formulation of sentences are short and/or simple sentence use •omissions or errors with use of articles: a, an, the
What are signs of disorders of use?
Pragmatic difficulties:
Poor or inappropriate eye contact
Less flexibility in their language when tailoring the message to the listener
Inappropriate responses to the topic
Less effective in securing a conversational turn or in giving up a turn 10
Limited use of social functions
What are the subgroups of delayed language disorder (DLD)?
Phonological-syntactic: Most common Comprehension better than expression Morphological errors Syntax simplified
Lexical-Syntactic Deficits in word retrieval. Avoids initiating spoken communication Immature syntax Circumlocutions Less impaired in spontaneous speech Conversational problems dominate.
Semantic-pragmatic Expression better than comprehension. Language range: 1-2 words to well-formed sentences Over-learned scripts Literal comprehension difficulties Semantic paraphasias Disorder, bizarre behaviour - ASD Superior vocab but odd conversational skills.
